How To Survive A Pandemic by Dr. Michael Greger

2020. The year the entire world came to a halt. Soap, hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, toilet paper, nonperishable food: all in short supply. And phrases like social distancing, self-quarantine, flatten the curve, and wear a mask all became part of our everyday lives. How did this happen? Could it have been prevented? Is the worst yet to come? And how do I survive a pandemic? All questions that are tackled in Dr. Greger’s latest must-read book.

Dr. Michael Greger is one of the leading plant based diet physicians and has written some of my personal favorite books on the subject. And, all of the proceeds Dr. Greger receives from his books and speaking engagements are donated to charity. In addition to being a best-selling author and speaker, Dr. Greger also runs the popular science-based website NutritionFacts.org.

How To Survive A Pandemic

I personally love Dr. Michael Greger’s books, because he includes thousands of studies and scientific evidence to back up his research. And this book is no exception.

As the effects of coronavirus started to surge, Dr. Greger worked intensely on this book. Previously published in 2006 under the title Bird Flu, it was updated to reflect the events since then and especially through 2020. Over 3,600 references and studies pack this 350 page book full of information. It is well written and easy to understand, even without a medical background.

How to Survive a Pandemic is truly eye-opening and will shake you to your core. It will cause you to think more deeply about the choices we make every single day. It will inspire you and frustrate you; and it will help you to better understand how and why our entire planet is battling this deadly virus, more than a year after emerging.

When you understand the spine-tingling way these viruses mutate, adapt, and learn, it may change your perspective on this pandemic. And the way you purchase and prepare meat. 

This book even has the potential to convert many people to veganism.

How Viruses Work

Viruses are pieces of genetic material (DNA or RNA) enclosed in a protective coat. When viruses enter a host, they “hijack” cells in order to produce copies of themselves and multiply. Once viruses have invaded that host, their mission then becomes to spread and infect others in order to stay alive.

Viruses face 3 challenges:

1. they have genes but no way to reproduce

• so they must take over a living cell and “hijack” its molecular machinery for reproduction and energy production

2. how to spread from one host to another

• if the virus is too passive, and it may not spread in time of the host’s natural lifespan
• if the virus is too strong, and it may kill the host before it has time to infect others

3. the virus must be able to evade the host’s defenses

• different viruses have different strategies for this
  • i.e. rabies: infects parts of animal brain that induces uncontrollable rage, while replicating in salivary glands in order to spread itself through biting
  • diseases like cholera and rotavirus: spread through feces, so they cause diarrhea
  • Ebola: spreads through blood, so the virus makes you bleed

Then, because of things like vaccines and/or our immune system (fighting off and killing a virus or developing antibodies to prevent further infections), viruses must mutate in order to survive. Sometimes these mutations weaken the virus. But other times, the mutations make the virus more contagious, more efficient, and more deadly.

Novel (new) viruses tend to come from other species, called zoonosis (loosely translated means “animal disease”). All human viral infections are believed to originate in animals. (See below).

What is coronavirus?

Coronaviruses are actually the second-most common cause of the common cold. A novel coronavirus, such as COVID-19, is a new strain of coronavirus that has not yet been identified.

As we learned above, the coronavirus has a strategy for evading the host’s defenses. Our respiratory (breathing) tracts are our primary points of contact with the outside world. Everyday, we inhale thousands of gallons of air. This is why airborne viruses are so common.

That being said, our bodies have built-in defenses to respiratory viruses:

• Mucus helps keep viruses away from our cells.
  • spike proteins cover the coronavirus in order for it to invade our cells

• Cilia are tiny sweeping hairs that brush the contaminated mucus upwards toward the throat to be coughed up or swallowed into the killing acid of the stomach.
  • once the coronavirus invades our cells, it produces symptoms such as coughing and sneezing; this gives droplets and germs a chance to escape the infected body and be spread to another host to infect

• The immune system attacks the virus and attempts to kill it.
  • pandemics happen when a dramatically different virus arrives; a virus to which we have no prior immunity 

Coronaviruses are increasingly emerging and circulating among livestock populations around the world; the more novel coronaviruses we have mixing in with more and more animals, the greater likelihood that strains with pandemic potential emerge.

“Tragically, it may take a pandemic with a virus like H5N1 or H7N9 before the world realizes the true cost of cheap chicken.” –Dr. Michael Greger, M.D.

Viruses and the Plant Based Diet

Animals–including goats, sheep, camels, poultry, fish, etc.–all have 30-40 major diseases. Therefore, the possibility of human exposure is great.

Most human infectious diseases originally came from animals:

• Measles is thought to have come from domesticated sheep and goats
• Smallpox may have resulted from camel domestication
• Whooping cough from domesticated pigs
• Typhoid fever from domesticated chickens
• Influenza from domesticated ducks
• Leprosy from water buffalo
• Cold virus from cattle or horses

But, here’s the truly frightening thing How to Survive a Pandemic addresses: COVID-19 isn’t even the worst pandemic we could see in our lifetime. Not by a long shot.

The far bigger threat to humanity are novel influenza viruses that originate in poultry. 

I encourage you to do your research on wet markets. (And yes, wet markets exist right here in the United States). Do your research on past pandemics. Research common practices of factory farming.

Read Dr. Greger’s latest masterpiece, and let the information really sink in. Dr. Greger calls COVID-19 our “test run” for far deadlier pandemics likely to come in the not-so-distant future. 

Don’t live in fear, because I certainly don’t! But, be educated and be prepared. The more wise decisions we make today, the greater impact on our tomorrow.

“If changes in human behavior can cause new plagues, changes in human behavior may prevent them in the future.” –Dr. Michael Greger, M.D.

How to Prevent Future Pandemics

I highly recommend reading How to Survive a Pandemic by Dr. Michael Greger. It will help you gain a better understanding, not only about the coronavirus, but also about all other past (and future) global pandemics.

Sadly, far more people have died from COVID-19 than was first predicted in this book, early on in the pandemic. As of this writing, over 2 million people have died globally from COVID-19. It is a fact that the best things we can do to help prevent the spread are to wear a mask, wash our hands, and social distance.

Protect yourself, protect your loved ones, and protect your community. Be safe and be responsible. We’re all in this together. ❤️